Wooo! Tempo Tuesday!

It's been a while since I really felt strong during a run. The races I've done have resulted in kind of unimpressive times and my workouts have, for the most part, been struggles. I haven't been feeling particularly motivated lately and have had an overall feeling of blah-ness.

I think there are a few reasons for my missing spark, the biggest thing being that I'm just tired. I didn't take a big break after Vegas and I've been racing a lot and have a ton of everyday things going on. It's wearing on me a little. In the past I've been able to just get over things like that because I've always been so excited about running. I'm still totally in love with it, but needed something to get out of my little rut.

That something just happened. I had a little workout to do this morning that went way better than expected. It didn't look hard at all, but ,with the way I've been feeling, I wasn't too confident. All I had to do was a 2 mile warmup, 5 mile tempo between 6:45 and 6:30, then a 1 mile cooldown. I did a 3 mile warmup instead and when it came time to pick up the pace, I barely noticed the difference! I felt so relaxed and strong the whole time. Instead of 6:45 to 6:30, I went 6:40, 6:25, 6:20, 6:20, 6:10 with the last quarter mile at 5:50 and then did a nice long cool down. And it went by quickly, no big deal. Nice! Again, nothing super hard, but, mentally, I really needed that!

I'm certain that the success of this was in part due to having a partner for this workout. My new teammate Marshall (who you may know from Channel 7 News - fancy!!) ran with me and WOW did that help! There are studies that show running (and I would guess working out, in general) with others helps block pain receptors in your brain. I know I've mentioned it before, but I think previously I only took that into consideration for long runs... I've done the majority of my workouts on my own and greatly appreciate the company! The best part about that is it made for a successful workout, which got some of my confidence back, and, in turn, is helping me feel excited for my next workout. Wooo! Holler at that domino effect.

So now I feel awesome. Pretty amazing what a little 10 miler can do!